Soraka's E need to quality of life change

Br4ndon·Jun 12, 2015·137 votes·3,949 views

Her E doesnt trigger the silence fast enough while targets are inside the circle. So if a untargetable champion has her E under them and their untargetable finishes between ticks of silence they can cast enough ability to get out. If you can react fast enough you can avoid being silenced altogether with some abilities while standing in her E. Which was not intended

Its basically impossible to catch vlad and fizz because their W and E's allow them to always get out of my silence after zhonyas every time because the silence doesnt tick fast enough.

By making her E have its silence tick faster it can make her silence a lot more reliable. It wouldnt break her, just make her kit work as intended.

52 Comments

Nameless VoiceJun 12, 201522 votes

This is so bad that I'm half-convinced that the silence doesn't apply to people who weren't in the field when it was laid down. I'm sure I've had a Katarina jump in and get her combo off after landing in the silence.

Br4ndonJun 12, 201516 votes

[{quoted}](name=Nameless Voice,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lrsMb33c,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-06-12T01:12:33.414+0000)

This is so bad that I'm half-convinced that the silence doesn't apply to people who weren't in the field when it was laid down. I'm sure I've had a Katarina jump in and get her combo off after landing in the silence.

thats just because kats entire combo happens faster than the duration between ticks of her E. If it didnt stop her ult though, thats probably a bug. Panths combo happens faster than the duration of silence ticks so you are gambling when you put E down under his ult. odds are that hell still point and click stun and be out of the silence at that point.

Glitter SpitterJun 13, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=Nameless Voice,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lrsMb33c,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-06-12T01:12:33.414+0000)

This is so bad that I'm half-convinced that the silence doesn't apply to people who weren't in the field when it was laid down. I'm sure I've had a Katarina jump in and get her combo off after landing in the silence.

thank god im not the only one

FauxfireJun 12, 201511 votes

I agree with improving the fluid nature of Soraka's with good mechanics.

Silent PaceJun 12, 20158 votes

[deleted]

abeauferrisJun 12, 20152 votes

Really? I've always thought her kit was relatively easy to get the hang of.

Why is she hard to play now? :3

5000000000000000Jun 12, 20153 votes

It's harder than before. Also, unless you max w first (which you should always), you don't get enough sustain. I guess that's why she's hard to play.

SoMNiaJun 12, 20152 votes

But her Q sustain scales with ranks in W, as long as you have one rank in Q.

???

5000000000000000Jun 12, 20153 votes

Some people max Q first for poke and complain about lack of sustain.

SoMNiaJun 12, 20152 votes

Oh. That's, uh...not a good plan. XD And yeah, I misread that. If you max W first, it should be fine.

Supp HeroJun 12, 20151 votes

Without enough Q power though the W can't be used that often or you become too vulnerable. Although I usually max Q and W about evenly

SoMNiaJun 13, 20151 votes

That's not how it works. The heal you get from Q is based on your ranks in W, not your ranks in Q.

LeftClickOpJun 13, 20151 votes

But the cd of the Q is reduced by maxing it, wich can help alot in team fights, where you can hit 2-3 people at the time

SoMNiaJun 13, 20151 votes

Not very much. Rank 1 has a 7 second cooldown, and rank 5 is 5 seconds. With max CDR, that's 4.2 seconds and 3 seconds, respectively. Even at rank 1, you should be able to use it at least as often as you need to. Max W has twice the base healing value and half of the cooldown of rank 1 W, for the same health cost, and gives Q's self-heal 2.6 times the base value. That's 40% more Qs versus 160% more healing from each Q, and max Q costs more mana. You'd be spending 1.8 times the mana for a little over half the health regained if you max Q first.

Put another way, you'd be spending 3.34 times the mana over 1.86 times as long to get the same healing. Even if you build AP, the scaling is not going to make up for that. Not even close. Maxing Q is never going to be better for your sustain, either short term or long term, than maxing W.

Support Soraka should always max W first. Always.

Aeolian MelodiesJun 14, 20151 votes

Her self-heal on Q is dependent on her current W rank, not the Q rank. Arguably it should scale up with Q ranks so she can't get the best of 2 skills by maxing only one, but hey, it's Riot we're talking about.

Davy CrockettJun 12, 20151 votes

Every time I play Soraka in ranked I can't faceroll fast enough and I am always focused/assassinated before a team fight begins. But I always carry the game when I do :D

IcyPepperJun 12, 20158 votes

"But muh outplay potential"

If pressing a button to use mobility is outplay, then Soraka's Equinox is her outplay!

Checkmate, assassin mains.

Br4ndonJun 12, 20157 votes

{quoted}

"But muh outplay potential"

If pressing a button to use mobility is outplay, then Soraka's Equinox is her outplay!

Checkmate, assassin mains.

if you can predict who LB is gonna W to you can catch them off guard by causing them not to be able to W back with your silence.

Thats assuming the silence ticks at the right time for you. and if they remember that right clicking is for moving too since theyre usually just pressing W and R to move around

TheLastBaron88Jun 12, 20156 votes

For a champion who is literally the posterchild for sustain lanes, while her heal is good, the new "interactive" playstyle Riot seems to want to encourage on her sure is difficult when she runs oom as fast as she does. Maxing Q and going for poke with Q and autos just seems terribly weak, and lane phase is where she's supposed to shine.

I personally would really like if her Silence Field could return mana to allied champions while they are standing in it, or else give her mana when it snares an enemy. Something to give her a meaningful trade pattern that won't force her back to base even if she comes out on top.

OrbvJun 12, 20157 votes

Actually with the reworked Soraka, Riot said that they preferred her to be a burst mid to late game healer. They intentionally made her weaker in the early game so that she could have 3sec CD heals late.

I really would love a mana sustain feature because I was always accustomed to that being her thing; healing health and mana issues.

I'm actually fine with her now, I mained her last season to Gold. My only tiffs are the ticks of her silence, the delay for her self heal to get back to you, and her ally heal using both mana and 10% of her health. I don't see why she needs to sacrifice both.

TheLastBaron88Jun 12, 20152 votes

Huh. wasn't aware of that. Yeah idk, it just seems like she requires a lot of items to function, largely due to the amount of resources she requires in order to cast spells, especially heal, as you said.

Also congrats on gold, hoping to get there myself this season.

PokladnicaZlaJun 12, 20155 votes

I had one game where a Cait was standing in my E,she still could use abilities(she used R)....

Even when URF was out,I played Soraka and gott ambushed by Zed. I placed my E under me after he used R,he still was able to cast QWE;GREAT.

XinotineJun 12, 20154 votes

I have same experience. It doesn't feel its silencing anything.

FourVsFiveJun 12, 20153 votes

Maybe lower the mana cost too, not like you can spam an ability that has a 24 sec cool down. Example, 50,55,60,65,70

Reaper SorakaJun 12, 20152 votes

It seems to only be a problem under bard's ult and Zhonya's hourglass. With so few people playing Soraka, and it being so situational, I kind of doubt it will be worked on any time soon.

Too many people have escaped when I was sure I was more useful than people believed. So here's to hoping, at least.

Shroom JunkieJun 12, 20151 votes

{quoted}

With so few people playing Soraka,

I know a person who mains her, and 2 people who play her a ton(including myself). And that's just my friends' list of who I know, not even counting those who I never checked or people who aren't my friend.

Reaper SorakaJun 12, 20152 votes

She does have a 4.29% pick rate (as of when ever Lolking last updated) which isn't as low as I thought it would be. Still, Thresh is 34%, Leona 25%, Morgana 24% (sometimes that's mid though.) Annie 18% and Blitz17%. She's definitely low on the pick rate totem pole.

ElJanitorFrankJun 12, 20152 votes

I'm not sure if the 'ticks' are the problem. You'd have to be ticking EXTREMELY fast, Riot only goes to about .25 because to many things refreshing too fast takes a toll on servers.

And even .1 second is enough time for someone to use and ability if they're spamming it enough.

Krys StarJun 12, 20152 votes

Still wish Equinox would continue to silence anyone for the duration of the snare. For any suckers that dare stay or get caught in it. >:) But that'd probably be pushing it hehe... :P

abeauferrisJun 12, 20152 votes

THIS!!! A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!!!! So frustrating to silence someone Zhonya'd only to see them cast a spell when the stasis wears off

ModKnightsKemplarJun 12, 20152 votes

Be careful what you wish for... Making her silence better is going to demand power back in other ways. She used to have a point and click silence remember.

Br4ndonJun 12, 20155 votes

{quoted}

Be careful what you wish for... Making her silence better is going to demand power back in other ways. She used to have a point and click silence remember.

Its a mechanical fix. i think soraka needs no buffs, and i wouldnt be surprised if shes nerfed. I just want her silence to be reliable.

ModKnightsKemplarJun 12, 20151 votes

mm... fundamental disagreement. Making a silence more reliable isn't just a QoL change. That's a buff. So, while you say she needs no buffs, what you are suggesting IS a buff.

And buffing her might result in some nerfs in the near future.

abeauferrisJun 12, 20154 votes

The thing is a Quality of Life change is not meant to buff her, it's meant to restore/fix a mechanic that was supposed to be there in the first place. :3 This in turn will make playing her easier, hence causing some to see this is a buff, when it really shouldn't be classified as one.

ModKnightsKemplarJun 12, 20153 votes

I see that the OP thinks it's a QoL change, but it doesn't sound like one to me. Most QoL changes are things like... adding targeting indicators.

Point being, whether you call it a QoL change or not, it's going to change her power level. Maybe it IS how she was intended to work, but it's going to lead to her having more power than before. That can be dangerous in this game. The nerf hammer is sometimes swift and unforgiving.

I assure you that if she sees a spike in win rate, she'll get nerfed whether you call it a QoL change or not. That's all I mean to say.

abeauferrisJun 12, 20152 votes

Ah I see what you're saying now :3 Hopefully it won't be a large enough change to warrant any nerfs though :D

Br4ndonJun 13, 20151 votes

{quoted}

mm... fundamental disagreement. Making a silence more reliable isn't just a QoL change. That's a buff. So, while you say she needs no buffs, what you are suggesting IS a buff.

And buffing her might result in some nerfs in the near future.

Active: Soraka creates a zone at a target location for 1.5 seconds, dealing magic damage to all enemy champions standing inside as it is cast. All enemy champions inside the zone are silenced as long as they remain on it.

If you dont want to get silenced by it then walk out of it. Thats not a very reliable silence even when working right.

ModKnightsKemplarJun 13, 20151 votes

I hear your point, and I admit that if her silence is bugged, it's a problem. But you're still missing my point.

Right now, that makes her weaker, even if it's unintentional. If that gets fixed, and she sees a win rate increase, they ARE going to take power away again elsewhere. It's just how balance works.

EDIT: According to lolking (so take with a grain of salt), raka already has a win rate above 50%. If she has that with a bugged silence, it's only going to go up when the silence is working properly. That's why I said "be careful what you wish for."

junglerboy16Jun 12, 20152 votes

Definitely a good and much needed QoL buff, but I feel like she still isn't really worth using until they nerf her ratios and buff her base stats. she takes so long to really get going for such an early game style champ that there is almost no reason to pick her over any sort of tanky/pick support right now. Imo, to give her a real buff, they need to reduce her AP ratios across the board and buff her abilities base damage/heals by about 20 each at max rank (more like 50 for R) and have her heal's cost reduce with rank (so instead of 10% Max HP at each rank, it would scale from something like 12-4% max health (that way she isn't as punished for having to build things like Sightstone or Locket).

JacctheInsomniacJun 12, 20152 votes

[deleted]

SolusInCadereJun 12, 20151 votes

This

MinrogJun 13, 20151 votes

What Riot did with Soraka was introduce what is called a false choice, a toxic game design principle. A third of the items in the game make her weaker than she would be without buying them, even though you are spending resources to obtain them.

AbodyHUN666Jun 13, 20151 votes

Health makes her heal cost more, but her remaining % health is still more than with less health. I think a part of the max health cost should still stay because it limits her from being tanky with almost free strong heal. Maybe give the W cost a flat and a % part.

Maximum ZileanJun 12, 20152 votes

I to found this annoying.

Had an enemy Zed constantly R'ing back instantly while inside my silence zone. Even though he should have been unable to do anything and be easy to focus down from there.

The silence needs to activate instantly or else this ability is near useless.

CustomAceJun 12, 20151 votes

Yeah I see Soraka's silence not work fast enough all the time. It screws so many people over. She's one of the only champions that can handle champions like Riven, Katarina, and Zed.

NeoScoutJun 12, 20151 votes

yes please

RISE Shlack123Jun 12, 20151 votes

The biggest issue I have with Soraka is the chunk of health you sacrifice to heal, while there are several other heals in the game that can heal very effectively and yet cost no mana. They should remove the mana cost or reduce the health consumption on Soraka's heal since it's very expensive. I'd be okay with them reducing the heal a bit to compensate so long as they could provide more lane sustain.

Supp HeroJun 13, 20151 votes

I feel like all her abilities are perfectly fine except E. It's so unreliable and short lived that most times it's cast it doesn't even affect the enemy. Especially mid or later game when people have a little more movespeed, it becomes useless.

YorukinJun 13, 20151 votes

I think this is less a problem with Soraka and more of one with untargetability. It'd probably be best if untargetable states became vulnerable to persistent ground effects like Soraka Equinox, KogMaw Void Ooze, or Gangplank Cannon Barrage a moment before becoming targetable again. It shouldn't matter too much for balance purposes, since the only ability of this type that isn't a slow or DoT (or both) is Soraka's E.